Not a gym rat

mandacloye

As someone who will not be found in a gym to work out, I had to find that "something" that I could do that would give me a workout without seeming like work. My husband wanted to purchase new bikes with our tax return and I agreed it would be a good thing. I had not ridden in about 15 years but enjoyed it when I did. So we purchased GOOD bikes. I was having some joint issues and had to have a knee aspirated. The day after I had it done our bikes were ready for pick up. For my first trip I went 16 miles round trip. Thought to myself afterwards "Now THAT'S gonna hurt!". Miraculously it didn't.....not even a little. I was so pleased. Since then I have tried to ride every other day. I go anywhere from 15-20 miles each time. I have also been able to kayak, which is something I really like! I am one who had BAD plantar fasiitus in my right foot, the aforementioned pain in my left knee and chronic pain in my back from herniated discs, stenosis and arthritus. I have had not ONE bit of pain anywhere since starting my biking. My mood has improved immensely and I feel GREAT! So I would encourage those of you who know (like me) that if getting in shape depends on a gym, you are "not in", go find that one thing you like and can see yourself doing long term. My weight loss is not rapid and sometimes I go up before I go down further. I keep telling people that is ok because I feel so good. And for once I mean it. My loss was prompted by a new diabetes diagnosis but now I am going ahead with this simply because I feel so good.

Get out there, find your groove and stick with it! We can all get there, we just have to find our one thing to help us!

Wonderob

I too suffer from plantar facilitus which prevents me from running so cycling has been brilliant for my cardio. I make sure that I go at a decent pace to get my heart rate up.

I still think you also need to add some resistance work in as well though; have you thought about how you can incorporate that into your workouts?

mandacloye

I am new to this bike riding so no thought has been given to other forms of excerise. I am aware I need to do strength training, and I am looking into that a bit. I am pleased that I am even doing this much, but thank you for your concern.

DavPul

Everyone has to start somewhere and it's awesome that you found something that you love to do! Keep it up!

There are some apps for phones that record how far you've ridden, how fast, and will plot your routes on a map. Maybe get one of those and try to beat your time to spice it up every so often.

Wonderob

I am new to this bike riding so no thought has been given to other forms of excerise. I am aware I need to do strength training, and I am looking into that a bit. I am pleased that I am even doing this much, but thank you for your concern.

Yeah good for you. My wife is same age as you and for years did just cardio, but has just just started to lift weights and is really seeing the benefits. She is about to buy the book 'The new rules of lifting for women' which many have recommended.

mandacloye

Thanks. I have tried that one site that tracks your path, but did not have much success with it. I know most of th distances I travel as I travel then in my car. We are not fortunate enough to have much in the way of bike paths here. Some people have not been real supportive, but I just laugh at them and ask "What do you expect? I AM after all still a fat lady on a bike!". That usually stops the negativity. I plan on doing this as long as I can. Not having ANY pain ANYWHERE is so amazing to me that I can not fathom giving it up! Not only that, but yesterday I was looking at myself in the mirror and for the first time in a LONG time I saw some changes in how I look. I am pretty self-motivated, but sure do appreciate all the supprt here. AND I wanted to help encourage those like me who used to think they couldn't do it. YOU CAN! YOU WILL!